Thursday, April 22, 2010

Taiwan-educated student awarded Fulbright Ph.D scholarship

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) A Taiwan-educated student has been awarded a U.S. State Department-funded international Fulbright science and technology Ph.D scholarship and will enroll in Stanford University this fall to study nanotechnology.

Hsu Po-chun, 25, is the third Taiwan student to have won the scholarship, a flagship international educational exchange program sponsored by the U.S. government that is granted to 45 international students every year in the science and technology category.

This scholarship is regarded as special because Hsu, who graduated from National Tsing Hua University (NTHU) in 2007, was educated only in Taiwan and is one of the few Taiwanese students to study for a Ph.D after earning only a bachelor's degree, said Chen Tung-jung, executive officer of The Foundation for Scholarly Exchange (Fulbright Taiwan) , one of some 50 bilateral organizations in the world established specifically to administer the program outside the U.S.

Hsu told CNA he was surprised to find out that he had been granted the three-year, US$240,000 scholarship last October because he had failed his first bid in 2009.

Hsu plans to focus on nanotechnology and would like to apply the results of his research to the development of solar energy, especially solar cells. He expressed hope that he will be able to use what he learns in the U.S. to help Taiwan's scientific development.

Hsu, a researcher at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's top research institute, does not fit the traditional perception of a "good student" in Taiwan as he does not want to be a "nerd" who does nothing but study and conduct scientific experiments.

As well as taking classes in psychology and journalism, he was also vice president of the Student Association, chief executive of the organizing committee of the locally renowned intercollegiate athletic games between NTHU and National Chiao Tung University and volunteered to work in the emergency room at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Hsinchu City.

Just as he has taken the road less traveled in his research, Hsu's favorite sport -- soccer -- is not popular in Taiwan.

"I appreciate my parents for always respecting me and letting me make decisions for myself. They let me find the uniqueness of myself, rather than just following the herd," he said.

Hsu, who describes himself as a hard worker rather than a genius, said he has only been to the U.S. once, when he was a small child, but added that the experience of being an exchange student at China's Tsing Hua University in 2006 helped broaden his perspective.

Most university students in China work very hard because of fierce peer competition and a strong desire to succeed, he observed. Taiwan's college students, on the other hand, tend to be more animated and creative, to be good at integrating cross-disciplinary knowledge and are better at teamwork, according to Hsu.

"We should leverage these characteristics to gain advantages in cross-Taiwan Strait competition, " he said.

The Fulbright Program was established in 1946 under legislation introduced by then-Senator J. William Fulbright of Arkansas. It is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State's Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Approximately 294,000 "Fulbrighters " -- 111,000 from the U.S. and 183,000 from other countries -- have participated in the program since its inception. The program awards around 7,500 new grants annually and presently operates in over 155 countries.

Over the past 50 years, Fulbright Taiwan has financed over 1,400 Taiwan Fulbright grantees to the U.S. and more than 1,000 U.S. Fulbright grantees coming to Taiwan. (By Chris Wang) ENDITEM/J